There is a need in the art to provide sturdy cookware that takes up as little space as possible. Pots, pans, and so forth, typically have a body with extending handle. While a smaller pot takes up less space on the cooktop and the closet, the obvious downside is the reduced capacity of the pot. Regarding the pot handle. It may be permanently attached, foldable or removable; this impacts on strength of the handle and its connection to the pot, as removable attachments are generally weaker than attachments fixed by welding or any other method known in the art.
Examples of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,399 to Bruggencarte which has an integral foldable handle. Another, U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,742 to Farrell et al. discloses foldable handles for microwavable bowls and the like. Another, U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,708 to Dumoulin, Jr., utilizes a pop-up handle. In each of the above cases, the handles accomplish a goal of decreasing space used during storage; however, such handles are limited in the amount of torque and other forces they can withstand. That is, products with foldable handles do not last as long, as regular cookware and cannot be substituted for an average pot found in a kitchen. Further, the handles and cookware of much of the prior art must be held at a particular orientation to avoid undesired folding.
What is needed in the art is a way to obviate the space used by handles, so as to allow cookware and other items with handles to fit into cramped spaces such as refrigerators and backpacks, without sacrificing strength and utility. The handle, ideally, should be as good as a non-foldable handle.